by Del Bartels

The Haakon School District 27-1 Board of Education held its last meeting of the year Monday, December 20.

A long list was approved of volunteer coaches for the winter sports. These people include many former students who might come in during their college breaks to help with high school practices. Paulette Ramsey has been officially approved as the assistant girls' basketball coach.

The financial report showed that claims payable December 20 came to at grand total of $191,957.54. This does not include the salaries and wages of the districts' employees.

The Haakon County Board of Commissioners met in a special meeting to see if there would be enough operating funds to close out the year.

At the December 15 meeting, Haakon County Auditor Patricia Freeman presented the board with copies of account information. She noted that Federal Emergency Management Agency funds needed to be transferred from their existing holding account to the road and bridge main account. Freeman noted that Val Williams had compiled all needed documentation regarding the highway department's work on FEMA projects so that now the funds could be transferred.

The Honor Flight program, begun in 2005, was created to allow as many American veterans of World War II as possible to visit, free of charge, the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The memorial was completed and dedicated in 2004, at a time when most surviving veterans from the era were over 80 years old and were not likely to have the means or support to travel to see the memorial on their own. Shortly after the dedication, the concept of Honor Flight was established.